Shekhawati: Divine images, human life (Part 1: Krishna's childhood)

Visiting Shekhawati is like delving into a comic book about mythology and history. The walls of Shekhawati's heritage buildings are all covered with frescoes and murals depicting the life of Marwaris during the golden age of the region, or stories of the numerous gods of Hinduism. Walking in this open air museum is not only a feast for the eye, but also a journey back in time. And if you hold the right keys to get the message behind these images, it is a whole other trip that opens up for you, full of stories, teachings, and reflections.

Those paintings are more than images, they are guardians of traditions and immaterial heritage. And by understanding them we also understand how preserving them is much more than preserving beauty and architecture. It means protecting and conveying a world of religious and secular traditions.

In this series of articles, we propose to give you some of the keys to understand the painted walls of Shekhawati.

Krishna's childhood

When entering the beautiful mansions of Marwari merchants, raise your eyes to the ceiling, you will often notice a joyful dance welcoming you. This dance is called the Rasa-Leela, showing Krishna and the gopi, the charming milkmaids of Vrindavan, holding hands in a playful utopian round. Krishna occupies a central role in the iconographies developed on the walls of Shekhawati.

Ill. 1: Le Prince Haveli - Fatehpur – circa 1840

The Hindu population of Shekhawati mainly practices the Vaishnava cult, a Hindu tradition where the god Vishnu is the main deity. Krishna is one of the avatars of Vishnu, the material forms he took to come to Earth in order to overcome the forces of Evil disturbing its balance. There, he transcended all other beings, through his beauty of appearance and soul.

The story of Krishna is developed in several holy books. His childhood and youth are told in the Harivamsa and the Vishnu Purana, and his adulthood is narrated in the Bhagavat Purana, and in the Mahabharata. His most famous speech, and paramount message, is reported in the Bhagavat Gita, a chapter of the Mahabharata, during which he exposes to Arjuna the fragile balance ruling the universe.

Rasa-leela mandalas illustrate the variety of style that can be found in Shekhawati paintings. From a simple representation of Krishna and the gopi holding hands, floating on a plain background (ill.2), to a refined representation where all characters adopt different attitudes in a fertile and luxurious environment animated by monkeys and peacocks (ill.1), the Rasa-leela is one of the most auspicious designs found in haveli.

Ill. 2: Poddar chhatri - Ramgarh – circa 1870

According to these texts, Krishna is the son of Devaki and Vasudev. Devaki has a brother, the tyrannical Kamsa, who overthrew his father. Kamsa was told by a fortune-teller that a child of his sister would be the cause of his death, so he decided to kill all Devaki's children. But Vasudev managed to hide Krishna from Kamsa by exchanging him with another baby. When Kamsa came to kill the newborn, thinking he was Krishna, the baby changed into the goddess Durga, warning him of his imminent death.

During this time, Krishna was growing up with his adoptive parents, Nanda and Yasoda, near Mathura. He was a mischievous child, constantly playing games and pranks on the villagers.

He is often depicted stealing ghee (clarified butter) from his mother. This famous episode, often seen in India, gave him the nickname of Makhan Chor (“butter thief”). Most of the time, you will find this scene in the women courtyard of haveli, since there, the iconography is more likely to be linked with childhood. In Le Prince Haveli, Fatehpur, you will see him walking on all fours, discreetly passing behind his mother with a cunning smile, while his brother Balarama is doing mischief so that she looks away. This simple but very illustrative style, without perspective, where the faces are shown in profile with a facing eye is typical of the first part of the 19th century.

Ill. 3: Le Prince Haveli – Fatehpur – circa 1840

Illustration number 4, made later, shows a more Western kind of style, with a palace in perspective where the characters show a greater diversity of emotions. Balarama is hiding behind a column while his mother is about to smack them.

The symbolism of this scene is about the way Krishna brings out the best in us. Just as ghee is the best part of butter, he brings out the purest elements in our natures.

Ill. 4: Haveli - Fatehpur, circa 1890

Krishna's youth is all about those games, and how, through each of his pranks, he teaches something to the villagers.

Another story narrates how, one day, while the gopi were bathing in the Yamuna river, he stole their garments. This scene is depicted in the splendid Poddar Chhatri of Ramgarh. On one panel (ill.5), Krishna is playing the flute, sitting on a branch where all the saris are hanging, while the naked gopi, their long black hair running free on their shoulders, some still hiding in the river, some already standing naked, entreat him to give back their clothes.

On the this panel, the scene is very frontal, and the gopi are symmetrically framing the central tree where Krishna is sitting. On a more recent panel in Fatehpur (ill. 6), there is a search for depth, and the shapes of the women are more voluptuous, revealing more of their bodies to the god and to the onlooker.

Ill. 5: Poddar chhatri - Ramgarh – circa 1870

Ill. 6: Fatehpur, circa 1870

The scholars still disagree on the meaning of this scene. Some say that it is a way to express how the devotee should fully reveal himself to the supreme being. The naked body also symbolizes the sexual desire, and any aspiration towards Krishna, even carnal, brings closer to his consciousness. Others say that the gopi were observing Katyayani's vrat (fast), praying the goddess Katyayani to give them Krishna as a husband, but the act of bathing naked broke the fast. Furthermore, doing so displeased Varuna, god of rivers and seas. So Krishna's act was a way to teach them a lesson. This iconography, quite easy to represent, is one of the most popular on the walls of haveli.

During his childhood, Krishna would turn everything into a game, even the most perilous events. The demon Kaliya, the hundred-and-ten-headed serpent, had chosen the Yamuna river close to Krishna's village as his residence. One day, Krishna was playing ball with friends on the banks, when the ball fell into the river. He jumped in after it to retrieve it. The water started to boil and from the agitated waves rose the giant Kaliya, squeezing the young boy in his rings. But Krishna started to grow and reached such a size that the serpent had to release him. The young man then sprang on the snake's hoods and started to dance, beating the rhythm with his feet. The asura (“demon”) started to vomit poison and would have died if his wives had not come to beg Krishna to spare their husband. In these representations, Krishna is shown playing the flute on the hood of Kaliya, surrounded by the asura's wives, depicted as women in prayer emerging from the snake's mouth.

Ill. 7: Poddar Chhatri - Ramgarh – circa 1870

In illustrations 7 and 8, probably originally made at the same time, we see a very symmetrical composition. But the colours of the latter, show greater variety and intensity. Singhania Haveli has indeed been repainted recently, with chemical colours that allow more variety but are much less resistant to ageing.

Ill. 8: Singhania Haveli - Fatehpur - repainted recently

Sometimes Krishna had to face asura, but sometimes also gods. It happened when Krishna incentivised the villagers of Vrindavan to stop their pooja to the god Indra. The young ingenuous Krishna was surprised to see the farmers making offerings to Indra, when they should actually have been doing their duties and taking care of the cows and fields. The villagers followed his guidance, which angered Indra, who started a storm above the village. But Krishna, impassive, lifted the Govardhana hill to protect the inhabitants from the devastating rains. Indra, after witnessing this show of strength, acknowledged the superior power of Krishna.

Here is another example of how Krishna is the real protector of Dharma, the world balance. He is here to restore order and show that all beings are on earth to do a specific duty to the best of their ability.This wisdom will be fully revealed in the war of the Pandava and the Kaurava, that we propose to discuss in the next article about Krishna's adulthood.